The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-10-08
WHAT CAN THE CHURCH DO FOR
THE SUNDAY-SCH00L2
BY REV. w. F. SMALL.
blue Island, Ill

To answer this question in general
way and briefly, the church may in
ouire into the wants of the Sunday
school, and if they be just and true, If
they be real needs, may do all in its
power to supply them.
OF course we all realize the fact that
there may be distinction between a
want and need, but in the present
case we are confident no such distinc-
ton will appear. L venture to assert
that we shall find the wants and the
needs of our Sunday-schools synony-
nous. I am confident that where we
find want expressed, we will also find
an underlying need. l am confident,
moreover, that the want is never greater
than the need, that the Sunday-school
never desires anything more than it de-
serves it. think may go still further
and say that the Sunday-school seldom
ever gets anything at the hands of the
church that it does not ask for, unless
it be indifference and neglect.
The commo on school is quite likely tc
have its wants attended to. Every
property owner pays annually his pro-
portion to its support; that too, in
most cases, with good grace, feeling
that it is not only the necessary but the
right thing to do. 1t is not quite SO
with the Sunday school; it is more
creature of charity, dependent for Its
support upon the generosity of the
church a sort of waif taken in, and
sheltered, and fed by voluntary contrl-
buttons.
1t can be easily seen that any insti-
tuition that is go supported, any institu-
ton that depends for its sustenance
upon individual, voluntary gifts, is moi
likely to be extremely well cared fol-
until the average churcbman becomes
more generous than he now is.
AS the Sunday-school is just such an
institution, we must not be surprised tt
find that it is not an over-indulged child
Nay, further, we must be prepared tt
find that the burden of its support
both financially and socially falls on the
willing shoulders of the generous heart
ed few; and, if it is then still needy, il
is because these few are insufficient tC
meet its demands upon them.
To put it generally, then, the Sun
day school needs
Sympathy and Encouragement.
To put it more specifically, it needs
friends, money, instructors. 1t needs
friends who are friends indeed. Not
those who say-"Oh, yes, the Sunday
school is beautiful institution 1t
is the hotbed of truth and virtue, the
Eden of purity and loneliness % and
then haven't enough real sympathy fol
it and it's work ever to drop coin in its
treasury, or to be present personally t.
take part in one of its sessions. The
Sunday-school hasn't such need Of
these long. ranged friends, these friends
who always keep two or three blocks
between them and its audience-room
but 1t does have a need of those friends
who will come into personal contact
with it, and give not only of their sub
stance, but also of their life for its en-
enlargement and growth. 1t needs
friends who are generous, not only with
their money, but also of their time, and
their personality. Its needs are both
material and social. Let us look for
moment at its material needs.
[ said that the Sunday-school needed
money. 1t needs money because it is
continually needing things which money
will procure because with money may
easily be obtained all those physical
helps which are 80 conducive to pros
porous school.
1t would be neither very convenient
nor profitable to keep school in tree
top; neither is it very convenient or
profitable to hold the school in a small
church, where the classes are crowded
close together into stationary pews,
and where the voices of all are mingled
in one unintelIgible babel. It's neither
interesting to pupil nor teacher where
half that is said becomes drowned in the
roaring sea of voices; where, perhaps,
the best words and the most apt Illus
trations fall on deafened, and therefore
inattentive ears. Under such circum-
stances the interest of all is sure to lag,
and where the interest lags the school
is sure to lose some of its life, energy,
and usefulness.
Again, the Sunday-school needs mon
ey, because with it can be procured
Helpful Literature.
Singing-books that are filled with lofty
sentiments, that are melodious and in
spring; story-books that are interest
ing, and that contain the subtle intlu-
ence of a good moral; the illustrated
paper, with its helpful word for all
with its silent and frequent appeal to
what is sweetest and best in the child.
heart,-all of these little helps which
make bright and easy the moral instruc-
tion of the young.
The Sunday-school needs all these (;